Broncos vs. Chargers score: Denver scores 35 in a row, picks up a win in San Diego

I didn’t watch Monday night’s Broncos-Chargers game, but I will report that not watching it was pretty wild. I checked the score at halftime, saw that the Chargers were leading 24-0, and thought, “Hey, remember Frank Reich?” for about 1.4 seconds before turning to something else.

Later, I checked the score and saw that in the second half, the Broncos hung 35 unanswered points on the Bolts and won. Over the last two quarters, Peyton Manning was brilliant, but I was most awestruck by how suddenly terrible Philip Rivers became. Here is how every second-half Chargers drive ended:

Broncos fans were in quite an elated mood after the victory. KaptainKirk had this to say in his postgame recap.

John Gennaro of Bolts from the Blue had this reaction to the Charger loss in his postgame recap.

But then the second half started up. Peyton Manning and the rest of the Denver Broncos went from embarrassing themselves on national TV to embarrassing the San Diego Chargers.

Rivers responded by driving the ball back down the field, connecting with Gates on multiple completions. But, finally, the pressure of the 28 unanswered points became too much and Rivers threw his fourth interception of the night to Chris Harris, who returned it for a touchdown to make it 35 straight points (after the extra point) for the Broncos.

Can anyone figure it out? Please let us know your best guess.

With just over two minutes remaining in the game and the Chargers given the ball with a chance to lead a game winning drive, Rivers throws an awful pick on an awful route.

It was a bad pass in one of those areas where you can’t screw up because Harris had no one in front of him for the touchdown.

This reaction from Philip Rivers kinda tells the story:

Rivers threw his third interception of the game -- fourth turnover overall -- as the Chargers offense continues to be shut out in the second half and the Broncos continue their comeback.

In the first half, the Chargers capitalized on the Broncos miscues and took a 24-0 lead into the half. Since then, it has been all Broncos all the time.

Here is the surgical strike that gave the Broncos the lead.

On the next possession the Broncos defense did this:

The referees looked at the play again and confirmed the call on the field -- fumble by Rivers and then the touchdown return by the Broncos.

Don’t look directly into his eyes.

Decker tripped over his feet on a wide open run to the endzone.

Check out what happened from there:

A few things:

Adams, the featherweight, weighs in at an even 200 pounds. Gates, the heavyweight, weighs in at a little heavier 255 pounds. Gates pretty obviously came away unscathed. Adams, on the other hand, has a slightly scuffed helmet now.

For example, players can’t set a pick like they do in basketball but you can accidentally cross a defender’s path.

But, no, Antonio Gates, you can not drop the defender like this.

Unfortunately for Holliday, the second time around on MNF hasn’t started out very well.

He flubbed this catch on the punt return. He starts to look the ball in but just misses it. I wonder if the Chargers defender standing right in front of him broke his concentration.

Here is the full list of inactives for both teams tonight:

Said Decker, according to an interview transcribed by Sports Radio Interviews:

Decker added that many drives, especially early ones, have been killed by turnovers. He said that a 7-0 lead rather than a turnover to end a long drive could have changed the complexion of the game in any of Denver’s three losses.

The Chargers are a 3-point favorite.

Game Date/Time: Monday, Oct. 15., 8:30 p.m. ET

The trends point to the Chargers and the score predictions point to the Chargers.

But the Monday Night Football odds situation is muddied by the fact oddsmakers are giving lots of respect to Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos.

Ten of ESPN’s stable of 12 NFL experts have made their picks for Week 6, and six of them see the Chargers winning, while Merrill Hoge, Chris Mortensen, Mark Schlereth and Seth Wickersham pick the Broncos to win.

Mike Silver and Les Carpenter of Yahoo! both like the Chargers to win the Monday Night Football matchup, but Jason Cole and Yahoo! think the Broncos will come out on top.

The game is scheduled for Monday night at 8:30 p.m., ET and will be broadcast nationally on ESPN.